Form Abandonment Tracking for Home Service Companies

The average form abandonment rate across industries sits at 68%. For home service companies, that number often runs higher because your forms ask for things homeowners don’t want to give—like their phone number to a stranger.

If you’ve been trying to figure out which field kills your conversions, you’ve probably searched for Hotjar form analytics. Here’s what most guides don’t mention: Hotjar discontinued form tracking in December 2020.

What form abandonment tracking actually measures

Before spending money on tools, know what you’re trying to learn.

The useful metrics break into three categories:

Drop-off points

• Which field did visitors abandon on?
• What percentage of starters never finish?
• Are mobile users dropping differently than desktop?

Friction indicators

• Time spent on each field (hesitation = confusion or concern)
• Field re-entry rate (typing, deleting, retyping = frustration)
• Blank fields left optional but never filled

Recovery opportunities

• Partial submissions you can follow up on
• Email addresses captured before abandonment
• Patterns showing when people leave (first field vs. last field)

Most contractors care about one thing: the phone number field. Research shows that phone fields drop conversions 30-48%, even when marked optional. If you’re not tracking field-level abandonment, you’re guessing.

The form analytics landscape in 2024

Hotjar now focuses on heatmaps and session recordings. If you want dedicated form tracking, here’s what actually works:

Zuko (formerly Formisimo)

Cost: ~$130/month for 10,000 sessions

Zuko rebuilt what Hotjar killed. You get field-by-field analytics: time per field, drop-off rates, re-entry patterns, blank field reports.

The session explorer lets you watch individual users struggle through your form. Their alerting system notifies you when abandonment spikes.

Good for: Companies with enough traffic to justify $130/month and the time to act on the data.

The catch: You’re paying for analytics without getting the abandoned leads back.

Insiteful

Cost: Custom pricing, free trial available

Insiteful takes a different approach. Instead of just showing you analytics, it captures partial form submissions. When someone enters their email but leaves before hitting submit, you get that email.

This matters for lead recovery. You can’t follow up on traffic you never identified.

Good for: Companies that want to recover abandoned leads, not just study them.

Google Analytics + Tag Manager (DIY)

Cost: Free

You can track form abandonment with custom events. Set up triggers for field focus, field completion, and form submission. The data lives in GA4 where you’re already looking.

Good for: Contractors comfortable with tag configuration who want basic drop-off data.

The catch: No field-level time tracking, no re-entry data, no partial lead capture. You get volume metrics without the “why.”

Crazy Egg

Cost: $99-$499/month

Crazy Egg bundles form analytics with heatmaps, recordings, and A/B testing. The form tracking isn’t as deep as Zuko’s, but you get more tools for the money.

Good for: Companies that need a general CRO suite, not just form analysis.

What contractors usually discover

After running form tracking, most home service companies find the same problems:

The phone field kills conversions. Homeowners searching “emergency plumber near me” at 11pm don’t want to wait for a callback. They want to call you. Asking for their phone number when they can already see yours creates friction.

Too many fields drive abandonment. Every field beyond name and contact method loses you 5-10% of submissions. Your “marketing source” dropdown isn’t worth the leads it costs.

Mobile forms underperform desktop. If your form wasn’t designed for thumbs, you’re losing 40-60% of your mobile traffic before they even try to fill it out.

The submit button matters. “Request Service” outperforms “Submit.” “Get Free Quote” outperforms both. The button copy sets expectations.

The real question: Do you need tracking or identification?

Form analytics tells you why people abandon. That’s useful for fixing your form.

But the bigger opportunity is identifying visitors who never intended to fill out a form at all. The 65% of homeowners who prefer calling never start your form. The ones who bookmark your page for later never fill anything out.

Tracking form abandonment helps you fix one conversion path. Visitor identification captures demand from every path—including the ones that skip forms entirely.

What to do with the data

If you invest in form analytics, here’s how to use it:

Month 1: Baseline your current abandonment rate and identify the worst-performing field.

Month 2: Remove or relocate that field. Measure the change.

Month 3: Test different form lengths. Three fields vs. five fields. Watch what happens.

The pattern with home service forms is clear: simpler converts better. Every question you don’t ask is one less reason to leave.

Most contractors who track form abandonment end up removing fields, not adding them. The data almost always says: you’re asking for too much, too soon.

Should you pay for form tracking?

Yes if:

• You have 10,000+ monthly visitors
• Your form gets enough submissions to produce statistically significant data
• You have time to run monthly tests based on findings
• You’re committed to making changes, not just collecting reports

No if:

• You’re under 5,000 monthly visitors (sample size too small)
• You know your form is too long but haven’t simplified it yet
• You’d rather identify more visitors than diagnose the ones who leave

The math: if you’re paying $130/month for form analytics but not acting on the data, you’re buying reports. If a $130 investment helps you recover 5 extra leads per month at $200 average job value, you’re ahead.

Form tracking is a diagnostic tool. It shows you what’s broken. Whether it’s worth the cost depends on whether you’ll fix what it finds.